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True, a cleaner shrimp might help, even if it doesn't it's a really cool addition to a tank!Think your feeling might be right. Might also try a small cleaner shrimp, may help. Sending positive vibes your way!
Thank you!Think your feeling might be right. Might also try a small cleaner shrimp, may help. Sending positive vibes your way!
I did some reading, saw some people reported luck with the cleaner maybe picking that that growth. My fish loved swimming up to it while it picked them over. Very cool to watch, even would clean around your fingernails if you let it! (Not the best idea…but fun)Thank you!
I might add a cleaner shrimp to the list next time I stop by my LFS! I think it would be a nice addition to the fire shrimp, and might do an even better job LOL.
That's good news! My fire shrimp hasn't had much interaction with my clowns (at least when I look), I've seen them near him but not super close. Hopefully he'll help out! And lol, that's interestingI did some reading, saw some people reported luck with the cleaner maybe picking that that growth. My fish loved swimming up to it while it picked them over. Very cool to watch, even would clean around your fingernails if you let it! (Not the best idea…but fun)
Everything is looking great!Here's some pictures I took earlier today when feeding! Today was kind of a lazy Saturday lol...
Everything is looking great!What kind of foods are you using? Are you feeding the coral also?
Got crabs? Hehe
What is your current clean up crew?
Dang well hopefully it will start getting better. Speaking of food, selcon is a great additive for food when nursing them back to health!
Sorry for all the questions
I do not feed the coral anything! Currently, I have only been using frozen spirulina brine shrimp when feeding. I cut up the cubes into 4 pieces and feed 1/4 a day. I'll put a link to it down below. Should I diversify? I do have TDO pellets which I don't use.What kind of foods are you using? Are you feeding the coral also?
Got crabs? Hehe
What is your current clean up crew?
Dang well hopefully it will start getting better. Speaking of food, selcon is a great additive for food when nursing them back to health!
Sorry for all the questions
Yeah I have no clue why it spikes so much, maybe it's from feeding and simply because it's a new tank. I'll have to think about getting a second shrimp haha.That’s great, just wondering where your nitrates are coming from. A variety is the spice of life! Ha I believe they coexist fine, I haven’t personally had both though*. I know the cleaner gets large fairly quick, pretty active, and might compete for food even from coral given the chance.
As for CUC a few blue leg or scarlet herms, Cerith, nassarius, and trochus would be a great addition! Can’t remember but I’m thinking you got pods, if not that’s a must have!
Glad to hear everything is going well!Day 33-35 Update
Hello all. Nothing too much has been happening, minus some parameters going up and down and my Xenia coral closing up for an unconfirmed reason. A few days ago I adjusted my powerhead a little so it's angled slightly towards the back glass. I noticed this improved the flow around the tank and was picking up more stuff from the scape and sand into the filtration. I'll attach a photo below. I also upped my lighting schedule to 51% from 41% so my corals get more light (the tradeoff is more algae unfortunately). I probably won't up the lighting for a long while, and once established I will most likely run 61% at most.
Other than that small change, I've just been cleaning the glass of algae, stirring the sand a little, changing filter floss, and did 2 water changes during this period in order to help lower nitrate. It's still a little high, last measured around ~30ppm. I ordered some more products to try and keep nitrate and phosphate stable, so we will see how that goes.
Livestock wise, my clowns have been doing good! The one still has those bumps, but seems fine. He has been eating normally and swimming around with his buddy. Shrimp is going well. My corals are doing fine too, minus my Xenia frag which has closed up, slumped over, and acted funny. Not sure why it's unhappy, it could be because of changing parameters or it closed up after I fed my frozen shrimp with selcon the other day. It clouded the tank and made my corals unhappy. Today the ends were still closed up, but the base was looking a little better. Will keep an eye on it.
Yesterday I made a quick pit-stop at my LFS on my way home to upgrade my CUC army to battle the increased algae growth. I added:
-3 Trochus Snails
-2 Nassarius Snails (Sand sifters )
Hopefully these guys help! So far they are doing fine and got to work right away. They are a great addition to my other two snails and two hermits in the tank.
I also did a bunch of tests yesterday to see where my parameters were at, here are the results:
pH: 7.9
Alk: 8.5dKH
Nitrate HR: 12.4ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
Phosphate: 0.78ppm
Magnesium: 1140ppm
Any suggestions or feedback would be great! Happy reefing!
Love the black outline on your clowns!! Beautiful!!Day 33-35 Update
Hello all. Nothing too much has been happening, minus some parameters going up and down and my Xenia coral closing up for an unconfirmed reason. A few days ago I adjusted my powerhead a little so it's angled slightly towards the back glass. I noticed this improved the flow around the tank and was picking up more stuff from the scape and sand into the filtration. I'll attach a photo below. I also upped my lighting schedule to 51% from 41% so my corals get more light (the tradeoff is more algae unfortunately). I probably won't up the lighting for a long while, and once established I will most likely run 61% at most.
Other than that small change, I've just been cleaning the glass of algae, stirring the sand a little, changing filter floss, and did 2 water changes during this period in order to help lower nitrate. It's still a little high, last measured around ~30ppm. I ordered some more products to try and keep nitrate and phosphate stable, so we will see how that goes.
Livestock wise, my clowns have been doing good! The one still has those bumps, but seems fine. He has been eating normally and swimming around with his buddy. Shrimp is going well. My corals are doing fine too, minus my Xenia frag which has closed up, slumped over, and acted funny. Not sure why it's unhappy, it could be because of changing parameters or it closed up after I fed my frozen shrimp with selcon the other day. It clouded the tank and made my corals unhappy. Today the ends were still closed up, but the base was looking a little better. Will keep an eye on it.
Yesterday I made a quick pit-stop at my LFS on my way home to upgrade my CUC army to battle the increased algae growth. I added:
-3 Trochus Snails
-2 Nassarius Snails (Sand sifters )
Hopefully these guys help! So far they are doing fine and got to work right away. They are a great addition to my other two snails and two hermits in the tank.
I also did a bunch of tests yesterday to see where my parameters were at, here are the results:
pH: 7.9
Alk: 8.5dKH
Nitrate HR: 12.4ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
Phosphate: 0.78ppm
Magnesium: 1140ppm
Any suggestions or feedback would be great! Happy reefing!
For sure, it's probably going to take its course over the next few weeks but hopefully, a few months down the road things will stabilize and bacteria & other cultures will be established and things will be stable! I'm going to keep up with weekly water changes and maintenance. And yeah, the Xenia is looking a bit better today, standing up straight and I can see all the branches. Just the heads are closed, so hopefully it will bounce back whenever it feels like it lol. Glad that it isn't dead.The nuisance algae creep up is inevitable. Many are repulsed by the sight of it and coupled with the feeling of “there must be something wrong”, you get all these quick fixes and chemical solutions to what is otherwise a natural process. Keeping the lights lowered for a bit longer until you’ve added more frags might be a good idea. Your tank is beginning its maturation process, you’ll see some different nuisance algae stages but as long as you’re consistent with weekly WCs and maintaining your parameters you will be fine. Don’t worry too much about the Xenia, it will probably come back outta nowhere. For nanos a WC is often enough to reduce N and P. What salt are you using?
Thank you, I think their patterns are so nice!Love the black outline on your clowns!! Beautiful!!
Remember this picture of your powerhead! When your system gets a few more miles you'll be longing for the days of a nice clean pump when the coralline algae starts!